The Forgotten Twins

I always knew Chloe was delusional, but this time she went way too far. She stayed up for hours looking for the families of the kids who got hurt or killed by Xumi. I kept on telling her it was a bad idea because who exactly would want to be reminded about their painful past? Like, if I had the option, I would like to start over again and forget all about my past, but that's not possible right now.

Chloe ignored all my warnings and kept on saying we should have faith. For the few days she looked for the victims' families, I tried to stay under the radar. I also got this thing called an iPhone. I never used technology much in the orphanage because they thought it was bad for my "mental health," they said, but we all know they're just way too broke to afford one.

Anyways, after a lot of all-nighters from Chloe, she finally managed to find one of the victims' families, or more like two. Apparently, they are twins.

Their parents were Korean citizens who moved to the UK as legal immigrants. When the twins were with their babysitter and their parents went out for a date night, Xumi hunted down the twins' parents and killed them.

It was a very popular case, apparently, because the twins' parents were big-shot prosecutors, so the police and law enforcement were eager to catch Xumi. They used all their best resources but only ended up with more people being killed. So, unfortunately, they had to close the case as a "cold case," but they never said it in public. They just said they were going to keep trying their best no matter what.

Chloe also managed to find out where the twins lived, and luckily for us, they only lived like three hours away from us. And I said luckily because I was expecting them to have moved to a whole different country, considering how rich they were.

The next morning, we headed to their house, and during the very long drive, me and Chloe made up and thought about different ways to talk to the twins.

We did find some info about them. They're a boy and girl twin. Their original names were Tae-yang for the boy and Nari for the girl, but their foster parents named them Eliot and Ella.

When we finally got there, we pulled up to a nice-looking house in a quiet neighbourhood. It wasn't some huge mansion, but it was definitely bigger and nicer than the houses I was used to seeing. Everything looked neat and well taken care of, and the whole place gave off this comfortable, medium-upper-class kind of feeling.

We knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, a woman opened it. She was an average-height white British woman with a neat brown bob that reached just above her shoulders. She wore a cute but classy gown, and everything about her looked put together without looking like she was trying too hard.

She looked at us with a confused expression.

"Can I help you?"

Chloe immediately stepped forward.

"We need to talk to your foster children about their biological parents' deaths."

I wanted to disappear.

Not exactly the best conversation starter.

The woman stared at us for a moment before looking behind her.

"Who is it?" a man's voice called from inside.

A tall man with neatly styled brunette hair walked over. He was dressed in classy clothes, with a button-up shirt and smart trousers. He looked like the kind of person who could walk into an expensive restaurant without anyone questioning whether he belonged there.

The woman glanced at him before looking back at us.

"I'm Rebecca," she said. "And this is my husband."

The man gave us a polite but cautious smile and introduced himself.

"I'm their foster father. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Chloe," Chloe said.

"And I'm Uriah," I added.

Rebecca nodded slowly.

"Do you mind telling us why you're here?"

Chloe explained that we were investigating Xumi and that we believed their foster children might have information that could help us find him.

Rebecca's expression immediately became more serious. She called her husband over, and the two of them whispered to each other for a few moments. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell they were debating whether they should even let us inside.

Eventually, Rebecca opened the door wider.

"Come in."

We stepped inside. The house was just as nice on the inside. It was clean and warm, with expensive-looking furniture and family photos placed around the room. It didn't feel like some rich celebrity house. It just felt like a comfortable family home where the people actually lived.

We sat down and waited for a few minutes. Then this cute girl with a pink flowery dress came skipping in with a bright look on her face. Not exactly what you'd expect from someone who was told we were here to talk about their dead parents, but she sure was happy.

Then followed her brother. He was this moody teenager who looked my age. He wore a black shirt and some sweatpants and gave me a nasty look. That was an expected reaction, but he's a bit too moody. But who am I to judge, considering my own past?

Anyways, the girl sat down and introduced herself as Ella. She forced her brother to sit down, and she said his name was Eliot.

Chloe went straight to it and talked about how and who Xumi was and how we were trying to catch him. Ella looked surprised, and Rebecca and her husband exchanged worried looks. Eliot, on the other hand, looked unphased and then said that we should get to the main reason why we were here.

Chloe sighed and then said that we needed help to find Xumi, that he had killed another person, and that we needed to find him before he killed someone else.

Ella seemed enthusiastic about it and was willing to help, but Eliot hit the table and said the police could handle it. He said that if we poked around, we might get killed ourselves.

The foster parents agreed and said that it was too dangerous, but Ella was determined and really wanted to find Xumi. She said that her mum and dad didn't deserve this and that the police wouldn't do anything, considering they had already closed it as a cold case.

Before she could finish what she was saying, Eliot stood up and said, "We are not participating in this," and then he stormed off.

Ella looked sad and disappointed.

Chloe then told me to go follow him while she stayed with Ella and her foster parents.

I followed Eliot, but man, he sure was fast. He went up to the roof and just stood there.

I asked him if he was okay, but he told me to get lost and mind my own business.

I told him I knew how it felt and that—

But he didn't even let me finish.

"You don't know how it feels. Do you know the pain of finding out your parents were brutally murdered? It was really painful, especially because we were so young. Ella had a really tough time with it. But now we finally have a stable home and everything. We were left all alone, and now we finally have a stable life. You guys are trying to brainwash Ella into helping you guys. I won't let it happen. She's all I have."

For some reason, that speech angered me, and I slapped him.

He looked shocked and was about to say something, but before he could, I said, "How dare you say that? You think it's only you that had a tough past? At least you have Ella. I don't have anyone, okay? No one. My mum, my dad and my brother, my whole family, they're all gone. Do you know how it feels to have the police call you every time another member of your family is gone? Do you know how it feels to have to face that again and again? You asshole."

He didn't say anything.

For a few seconds, we just stood there in silence. I expected him to get angry, but instead, he looked away.

"I didn't know," he said quietly.

"Exactly. You don't know anything about me."

He nodded.

"I guess I shouldn't have assumed."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just looked away too.

He sat down on the edge of the roof, and after a few seconds, I sat down a little further away from him. Neither of us said anything for a while.

Then he asked, "How long have you been dealing with all of that?"

I shrugged. "I don't even know anymore."

He looked at me for a second before looking back at the sky.

"I thought I was the only one who understood what it felt like to lose your whole family."

"You aren't."

He gave a small laugh.

"Guess we're both wrong, then."

I couldn't help but smile a little.

We stayed there for a while, talking about our families and what happened to us. It was weird because only a few minutes ago, I couldn't stand him, but now I was starting to understand why he acted the way he did.

He told me how scared he was when he realised Ella might get involved. He said that after everything they had already been through, he couldn't handle the thought of losing her too.

I told him that I understood. If I had someone left who meant that much to me, I'd probably be just as protective.

He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry."

I nodded.

"It's okay."

He hesitated for a moment before slowly pulling me into a hug.

I was surprised, but I didn't push him away.

Then, after a few seconds, he pulled away and looked at me seriously.

"Have you ever eaten bird poo before?"

I stared at him.

"What?"

He started laughing.

"So random."

He then went on to tell me some stories about their childhood, and we just started talking and talking.

After a while, he told me someone sent him a video claiming to be Xumi. In the video, it said that he wasn't done killing.

He also claimed to have his mum and dad's fingers. It was really weird because his parents' fingers were still intact.

I couldn't believe that.

I hurried back down and told Chloe. Chloe said we had to check the photos from the police report so we could find out if that's really Xumi.

We also talked to Ella and her foster parents, and after a few more arguments and convincing, they finally agreed that they were going to help us.

The foster parents recommended that me and Chloe stay over since it was already late, and we gladly took the offer, especially since Chloe had spent all her money on devices to find Ella and Eliot.

As we were about to sleep, Eliot called me and apologised again. I told him it was okay, plus I overreacted a bit.

We shook hands and promised to be friends from now on.

I still can't believe what just happened today, but I guess we are one step closer to finding Xumi.